I know those cheesy Hallmark movies aren’t Oscar-worthy but I can’t stop watching
Cosy season is upon us which means I’ll be watching Nora Ephron movies on repeat. It’s the perfect time of year to watch ‘When Harry Met Sally’, ‘You’ve Got Mail’, and ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, but there’s another genre I can’t get enough of.
And it’s incredibly uncool.
Once the temperatures drop and the evenings get darker, all I want to do is watch Hallmark movies. You know the ones where some city girl visits a small town and just so happens to save the local cafe/failing inn/beloved bookstore? They are my go-to movies at the moment, and I’m only slightly embarrassed about it.
You don’t need to focus on the plot, you know exactly what is going to happen from the first scene and they’re short. We need more 90-minute films in our lives and if they’re all on the Hallmark channel then so be it.
Netflix has also helped this new obsession with its back catalog of slightly cringey romantic comedies. I’m not talking about films like ‘Set It Up’ or ‘How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days’, but ones like ‘Falling Inn Love’, ‘The Princess Switch’, and ‘Falling for Christmas’.
They’re predictable, incredibly corny, and the acting isn’t award-winning, but these movies do make you feel good.
Hallmark movies are reportedly good for your health
According to scientist Pamela Rutledge, these cheesy rom-coms are actually good for our wellbeing.
She told Today, “The human brain loves patterns and the predictability is cognitively rewarding. Those predictable story arcs that draw on the standard patterns we recognise from fairytales offer comfort by presenting life as simple and moralistic.”
Hallmark makes the best business movies. pic.twitter.com/8eDAlV4lpa
— Bryant Suellentrop (@SullyBusiness) October 23, 2023
They also let us escape the reality of life and give us a chance to switch off, which is something we all need to do.
“The movies provide simplistic solutions to all those stressors that the holidays can bring: family conflict, isolation, or financial pressures.”
“While few of us are going to switch places with a doppelgänger, save Christmas for ourselves or someone else, marry a prince/princess, fall for a person who turns out to be a billionaire, or find true love in the span of an hour, [Hallmark movies] still allow us to experience the emotions associated with social validation, the yearning for connection, compassion, and empathy.”
If anyone needs me I’ll be watching ‘Royal New Year’s Eve…
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